He's Back
by allisonlovesdegrassi
Summary: Lalalalala I've never written a fanfic before so I just kind of threw this together and I didn't edit it or anything omg so please don't judge me idek what I'm doing and it might switch to first person randomly, I'm not sure woops.


Clare nervously fumbled through her messenger bag as she made her way up the steps to Degrassi Community School. Four days after getting back from break, and she still had to make habit of the new school rules— the first being having her ID card visible at all times. Her fingers found the laminated card just in time to flash it to the guards as she made her way through the front doors. It was time for yet another long day.

Somehow, she managed to make it through her first three classes without speaking to anyone more than what was entirely necessary, which is what she wanted. No, she hadn't become a complete hermit after her two weeks spent at her grandmother's. She'd actually been uncharacteristically social the three days prior to this one, as she was finally around people below the age of 80. Today just so happened to be a day that she wasn't sure how she was going to handle, and she'd spent most of it engulfed in her own thoughts.

"Here we go," a high-pitched voice rang through the noise of the hall, making Clare jump as she pulled her Grade 11 English binder out of the top shelf of her locker. She then turned around to give her friend a disapproving look.

"Thanks, Alli," she replied sarcastically, "I'd almost forgotten!" Alli rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, making her already full lashes look twice as long.

"I just came to see if you were alright," she defended.

"Well, thanks for your concern." Clare slammed her locker shut and started down the hall toward Ms. Dawes's room.

"So," Alli continued, quickening her pace to keep directly behind Clare, "What do you think's going to happen?"  
"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Are you going to end it for good?"

Clare halted and spun around to face her friend. "Do you have any idea what he _put_ me through? What if something like this happens again? No. I can't put myself in the middle of this anymore."

Alli shrugged. "He could've done a lot worse, you know," she said quietly with a knowing look. Clare sighed.

"I'm sorry, I just–" the warning bell rang, "–have to get to class. Catch you later?" Without waiting for a response, she changed direction yet again and rushed to her destination.

After taking a deep breath, she stepped into the class she'd come to look forward to the most this year, weighed down with unusual dread. As much as she'd thought of this day in the past two weeks, she'd never really decided on what she was going to do. When she sank down in her desk, though, she noticed the one in front of hers was empty, though it was normally occupied long before she made it to her own. She turned to her left, where her friend Adam was frantically writing some chicken scratch on a page of his notebook— trying to finish last night's homework, she assumed.

"Adam?" she whispered, gesturing to the empty seat ahead of her when he looked up. He replied with only a shrug and ducked his head back down to continue working. Clare looked up at the clock above the bookshelf in the corner of the room and watched as the second hand crept closer and closer to 12. As soon as it hit, the final bell rang, and the seat remained unoccupied, much to her relief… and confusion.

"Settle down, everyone," Ms. Dawes's called to the class as she stood up from her desk, and they did just so. "I want everyone to pass up their papers from last night." Out of the corner of her eye, Clare saw Adam slam his pencil down on the desk with a loud sigh of relief.

"Finished," he said to himself with a victorious grin. Clare couldn't help but smile to herself as she passed her own paper forward, leaning to reach over the desk in front of her. The class remained quiet; all she could hear was the light shuffle of papers and footsteps at the back of the room. Her heart stopped.

There he was, walking toward the chalkboard with a small, yellow slip of paper held out to the teacher. Clare would spot him anywhere, despite his drastically altered wardrobe. He wore a blue Degrassi letter hoodie over a red collared shirt, much like most of the other students around her. Instead of his signature black jeans, he had on a pair of nicely pressed khaki pants. There was no chain hanging around his neck. Clare tried to keep her head on straight, to remain mad at him, but she couldn't help but notice how nice he looked when put-together and didn't look away.

The next moment was brief— lasting only a half-second, if that— but seemed to stretch on for hours. After handing his pass to Ms. Dawes, Eli turned around to face his desk, immediately fixing his green eyes on Clare's. One could visibly notice the way his face brightened upon seeing her, despite the morose expression he had painted on. All was going to be okay now, and he knew it, because there she was. The room spun around him until everything in the entire world but her face was just a blur. His knees suddenly felt weak as he prepared to take his first step.

Clare's heart caught in her throat and her insides seemed to melt in a puddle around her, just as they always had upon seeing Eli. His eyes glistened with longing, and that's when she knew she had to turn away, averting her stare down at her hands. As much as she didn't want to believe it, she knew her eyes had shone, too— and she'd given away too much. A few moments later, she snuck a peek at Eli who, instead of smiling smugly as he normally did, sank into his seat, defeated.

Throughout the entire hour, he never dared to glance to either side or, worse yet, behind him. He couldn't bear to look at her any longer, knowing now she'd given up on him. After the night that fateful encounter with Fitz, they hadn't spoken at all, and Eli spent the whole time wondering if Clare would forgive him for letting the feud go so far. Now he knew she wouldn't.

Tears began to well in Clare's eyes as she took in Eli's all-too-familiar scent before her. Her mind began to race yet again— the way he inspired her to go further with her writing; the way he'd shown concern for her problems at home; the way he'd kissed her for the first time for their Romeo and Juliet project; the way he'd opened up to her about his heartbreaking past; the way he'd kissed her again, this time letting his tongue curiously explore hers, leaving her breathless; the way he continued to idiotically one-up Fitz despite her warnings; the way he sank to the floor against the lockers when she was sure he would die in a matter of moments. She knew she couldn't go on with him this way just as well as she knew she couldn't be completely without him.

A small, folded piece of paper fell on Eli's desk, his name written neatly in a recognizable scrawl across the front. He quickly shoved it into his pocket without unfolding it, and when the bell rang, he was the first out the door.

Eli read the note over and over as he walked to his car during lunch: "Morty. 11:30 sharp." Off campus lunch was no longer allowed, so he had told the guards he'd left his money in his car and had to get it. He resisted the urge to run when he reached the fence of the parking lot and saw Clare leaning on the hood of his hearse. She was biting her lip and looking at the ground, her short, curly hair falling in loose ringlets over face. Eli stopped when he was within two feet of her. Still, she did not look up.

"How'd you get out of the cell?" he asked softly. Finally, Clare's eyes met his, and he could tell she was resisting a smile.

"Left my lunch in my car," she told him, and almost giggled.

"Very sneaky, Edwards." Eli smirked, and for a moment the two just looked at each other. Clare sighed and took a step forward. _Here it comes_, Eli thought.

"If you _ever_," she said slowly and deliberately, poking his chest with one finger, "scare me like that again…" He held his breath as Clare got closer, their bodies now mere inches apart. "You won't be getting off so easy."

Eli smiled for the first time in weeks and, without thinking, wrapped his arms around Clare's back, leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. "I missed you so much, Clare," he mumbled before leaning into her again.

Clare took her boyfriend's face in both her hands and smiled through the kiss.


End file.
